Watch: Bill Maher Catches Bernie Sanders Off Guard With Equality and Equity Question

On Friday’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” show, former presidential candidate and current Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) had difficulty articulating the difference between equity and equality. 

Maher, the host of the show, known for his left-leaning positions and for occasionally challenging progressive ideologies, opened a segment by reading a question from a person in the audience.

Maher asked: “Are we confusing equality of opportunity with trying to guarantee equity in outcomes?” 

Tactfully, Maher bought Sanders, 81, a few moments to collect his thoughts by providing some background to the question topic: 

“That’s interesting — because I think this word ‘equity’ has come into the language in the last few years, and before that, we didn’t hear it a lot,” Maher said.

The host continued: “A lot of people hear ‘equity,’ and they hear ‘equality’ like it’s the same word, and it’s not the same word and the same concept.”

Maher then handed the question off to Sanders, 81, asking how he would “differentiate between equity and equality.”

Sanders initially floundered, admitting, “I don’t know what the answer to that [question] is.”

The senator was able to regroup quickly and began to define the term equality, noting, “equality is equality of opportunity.”

Sanders, however, continued to struggle with his answer. The Western Journal unkindly stated that Sanders had a “deer-in-headlights moment,” noting that it was “there and … noticeable.”

Sanders continued: “We live in a society where we want all people to have to have, whatever color your skin–”

Sensing the senator was in trouble, Maher jumped in to guide the conversation: “And equity is more guarantee of outcome, is it not?”

The comment leaned much more right than left, but Sanders, grateful for the assist, said, “Yeah, I think so.”

The exchange lasted only a minute but likely seemed much longer to the senator.

The Journal noted that though Sanders “came down on the side of equality” during the interview, his campaign platform does not support that view:

“This campaign is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in hiring, in programming, and in all other aspects of the work we do,” Sanders’ platform point reads. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion are deeply connected to our mission, our success, and to serving the American people.”

Critical of Bernie’s statement, the Journal pointed out that “pay equity [is] not equality,” adding that “it’s not a matter of what job you do or anything like that — equal pay for equal genders, however many of them there are today. That’s equity. Which Bernie Sanders isn’t behind. Except when he says he is.”